12 Patriotic Movies to Watch While Celebrating the 4th of July

12 Patriotic Movies to Watch While Celebrating the 4th of July

From ‘Independence Day’ to ‘1776,’ get ready for the 4th of July with these 12 patriotic flicks!

-Lucia Peters

Happy almost-4th of July, Bettys! We don’t know about you, but we’re certainly looking forward to a day full of barbecue, picnicking, and fireworks in honor of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But oh no! What if it rains on the day? Tragedy! Whatever shall we do then?

Have no fear! We’ve got you covered with these 12 patriotic flicks to watch if the festivities get rained out—or just if you need to get out of the sun for a while. Some of them are directly about Independence Day; some of them were released on or around Independence Day; and some of them are just examples of good old-fashioned Americana, because on a day when we compare everything to how American it is based on the criterion of apple pie… well, it just seems to make sense.

So go on. Fire up the DVD player and put one of these suckers on. You can still celebrate indoors!

1. Independence Day

Because nothing says “4th of July” like blowing things up. Fireworks, alien motherships… same thing. Just pack your sunscreen and stick with Will Smith. You’ll be fine. Promise.

If there’s one thing that could make the Declaration of Independence more exciting, it’s music. Sing and dance your way through Independence Day with this screen adaptation of the classic musical about the signing of the great document. Come on, you know you want to!

3. National Treasure

Yes, it’s goofy. But it’s enjoyably so, which is just what a summer blockbuster should be. I lied, by the way; if there’s one thing that could make the Declaration of Independence more exciting, it’s Nicolas Cage using it as a shield against bullets.